DAY-25: Kilkenny - Castles, Cathedrals & Brews
Day – 25: Saturday, September 16, 2017
Starting Location: Kilkenny, Ireland
Ending Location: Kilkenny, Ireland
This morning's breakfast was situated in what was formerly the local castle's horse stable. The meal was a bit more sumptuous than simply a bucket of oats and hay.
For starters the Kilkenny Castle tour was on the agenda. Though it was a mere 100 yards from our hotel, for some reason we drove to the entrance. The group of seven split up for the guided tour, with one gender opting for the house tour and the other for coffee; I'll leave it to your imagination who went where.
Well at least someone thought the castle green looked like a fairway.
Our second event for the day was the Smithwick's Experience in Kilkenny.
Though Smithwick's production has moved to Dublin and the ale is no longer produced in Kilkenny, the tour remains as an experience detailing the historic significance of beer from the age of monasteries through the founding of Smithwick's and to its acquisition by Guinness.
Sheila believes that she may have a long-distant relative with ties to the Smithwick business.
Naturally a visit to a brewery concludes with a tasting of the three Smithwick brews. We tried them all.
Following the consumption of alcohol it was time for cathedrals and churches, we visited two, St. Canice's Cathedral (Protestant) and the Black Prince Church (Catholic).
Sheila had the opportunity to sit in a chair reportedly originating from the 7th century. I had the opportunity to climb a tower for a 360-view of the surrounding area including the abandoned Smithwick's brewery.
Today we experienced the Irish rain, it was raining, then not, back and forth all day, never a downpour but always threatening.
For dinner we headed for Matt The Millers' pub. Tonight a couple of us had a great dish of beef stew, others had burgers, fish & chips and fish chowder.
Chris and Pat enjoyed an Irish Coffee, one had decaf and the other had regular coffee. Guess who spent a few hours counting the Irish Sheep last night?
As we departed the pub we did notice that the crowds were growing. When we entered getting a table was easy but we had been given notice that the table was reserved for 9 PM. That wouldn't be a problem as we had yet to be out much later than 8:30. Clearly we are the "early crowd" and there is a whole world of folks that don't even get started until after 10 PM.
Through the rain we made our way home and were soon entrenched in our rooms for the night.
This morning's breakfast was situated in what was formerly the local castle's horse stable. The meal was a bit more sumptuous than simply a bucket of oats and hay.
 |
| The Stable Area |
Well at least someone thought the castle green looked like a fairway.
Our second event for the day was the Smithwick's Experience in Kilkenny.
Though Smithwick's production has moved to Dublin and the ale is no longer produced in Kilkenny, the tour remains as an experience detailing the historic significance of beer from the age of monasteries through the founding of Smithwick's and to its acquisition by Guinness.
For dinner we headed for Matt The Millers' pub. Tonight a couple of us had a great dish of beef stew, others had burgers, fish & chips and fish chowder.
As we departed the pub we did notice that the crowds were growing. When we entered getting a table was easy but we had been given notice that the table was reserved for 9 PM. That wouldn't be a problem as we had yet to be out much later than 8:30. Clearly we are the "early crowd" and there is a whole world of folks that don't even get started until after 10 PM.
Through the rain we made our way home and were soon entrenched in our rooms for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment